Apparatus for handling railway cars



4 Sheets-Sheet 1 .451 S v m m 2. Q 2 mm mm, Nu m M A A A wiflwnu AI H HI IH QM i V k E 4 mHHH WEHHMM H I m m u w 2 ll ml" I l1| ||11|\| -lIl|Ml||n x |1 l1 my on 5 E m. J E 0 M A WMAM v! 3 Nov. 5, 1968 w. J.SAXONMEYER APPARATUS FOR HANDLING RAILWAY CARS Filed May 9 1966 Nov. 5,1968 w. J. SAXONMEYER 3,408,953

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING RAILWAY CARS Filed May 9, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR I I WALLACE J. SAXONMEYER BYfiAukQW/ 0449 @Mm-Yf ATT YS.

Nov. 5, 1968 w. J. SAXONMEYER APPARATUS FOR HANDLING RAILWAY CARS 4Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 9, 1966 I I N VE N TOR WALLACE J. SA XONME YERAPPARATUS FOR HANDLING RAILWAY CARS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Nov. 5, 1968 FiledMay 9. 1966 k a, 5 Jul F F o a? .5 i t Lt 4 I a In LO F ATT'YS.

United States Pate o 3,408,953 APPARATUS FOR HANDLING RAILWAY CARSWallace J. Saxonmeyer, Park Forest, Ill., assignor to WhitingCorporation, a corporation of Illinois Filed May 9, 1966, Ser. No.548,740 Claims. (Cl..104176) 3,408,953 Patented Nov. 5, 1968 FIG. 7 is aside elevational view of the transfer'table; :FIG. 8 is a top plan viewof the transfer table, the robot itself .being omitted to show moreclearly the guideway rnountingzthe latter; t i I V 1 t I FIG. 9 is atopplan view, largely in diagrammatieform,

, showing an installation ofthe transfer table and the:new

dinally of the table. The robot includes a pair ofioppo:

sitely disposed couplers each .mounted for being erected and collapsed.In the erected position, the'robot coupler is adapted for couplingengagement with a railway car coupler. In the collapsed position, therobot couplercan pass under the axle of a railway car. Cooperatingguideways on the transfer table and on track sections-adjacent oppositeends of the transfer table permit a .portion of the robot to extendbeyond either end of the table for coupling engagement with a railwaycar on the track sections.

This invention relates in a general way to apparatus for handlingrailway cars, and more particularly the invention relates to a new andimproved cable operated device, referred to in the art as a robot,adapted for coupling engagement with a railway car for moving the same(and other cars that may be coupled thereto) along a section of railwaytrack.

A primary object of the present invention is the provision of a new andimproved railway car robot which is movably mounted in a guidewayextending in symmetrical relation with the centerline of a section ofrailway track, which robot includes collapsible coupling means having amember adapted for coupling engagement with the coupler of a railway caron such track section thereby adapting the robot to transfer asubstantial draft force to the car.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a new andimproved robot according to the foregoing object, which robot furtherincludes another'collap'sible coupling means which is a duplicate of thefirst mentioned collapsible means and which is arranged in oppositerelation therewith thereby adapting the robot to transfer a substantialdraft force in either direction of movement thereof.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of arailway car handling mechanism which includes a new and improved robotaccording to foregoing objects,

which robot is mounted on a railway car transfer table and is arrangedfor advancing one or more railway cars onto the transfer table from anadjacent section of track at each end of the former and for moving suchcar or cars completely off the transfer table and onto the adjacenttrack sections. 1

These and other objects and advantages of the inven tion will becomeapparent from the following specification disclosing a preferredembodiment of the invention which is disclosed in the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the new and improved robot according tothe present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the lef hand portion ofthe robot shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view taken along the line 3-3of FIG. 2; t

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section taken along the line 4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an end view of the robot taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an end view of a transfer table having the robot of thisinvention mounted thereon, which view is taken along the line 66 of FIG.7;

and improved robot mounted thereon; t I -FIG.- 10 is an enlarged sectiontaken'along. the line 1010 of FIG. 9; and v.

FIG. 11 isan enlarged. section taken along-theline 1111 ofFIG..9. rReferring particularly to FIGS. 1-5; the new and improved robotof-thisdnvention, generally designated 10, is of velongated'fabricatedconstruction including acenter section .11 and end sections 12.The-robot is of symmetrical construction with respect to thelongitudinal midpoint thereof, and-therefore only'one half 'ofthezrobot, namely the left half as viewed in FIG. 1, will be describedin detail.

Robot section 12 includes a pair of structural channels 14 suitablyconnected to each other in parallel spaced relation and havingcorresponding ends connected with center section 11. Channels 14 includeappropriate bearings mounting two pairs of rollers 15. These rollerssupport the robot for movement along a guideway to be describedhereinbelow.

End section 12 of the robot mounts a collapsible coupling mechanismincluding a pair of arms 16 mounted in parallel spaced relation and withtheir lower ends pivotally mounted on a pin 17 having opposite endsthereof supported by the channels 14. The other ends of arms 16 mount aplate 18, which plate includes a hook portion 18a adapted for couplingengagement with a standard railway car coupler. Arms 16 mount a pin 20intermediate their ends; this pin has opposite ends thereof projectingbeyond the arms 16 in pivotal engagement with corresponding ends of apair of bars 21. The other ends of bars 21 are pivotally mounted onoppositely extending pins 22 (FIG. 4) integral with a trunnion block 24.

Pins 22 are rotatably mounted in respective slide blocks 25. Each ofthese blocks is slidably supported in a slide way 26 formed in a block27 secured within the associated channel 14. It will be understood thatthe trunnion block 24 is mounted for reciprocal sliding movementlongitudinally of the robot section 12 by the sliding action of blocks25 in slideways 26, and it will also be understood that such slidingaction serves to erect and collapse the coupling means including thehook-like coupling member 18.

Power means carried by the robot are provided for erecting andcollapsing the robot coupling mechanism. These power means include ascrew 28 threadingly engaged with a sleeve 29 secured in a bore formedin trunnion block 24. One end of screw 28 is journaled in a member 30mounted between channels 14; this end of the screw is connected with agear box 31 by means of a coupling 32. An electric motor 34 associatedwith the gear box 31 serves to rotate screw 28 in either direction ofrotation.

In the embodiment of the invention shown for purposes of illustration,the new and improved robotof this invention is mounted on a railway cartransfer table 36, which transfer table itself is of known constructionand forms no part of the present invention. The transfer table,.whichtable may be of the type shown in Saxonmeyer Patent No. 3,169,490, isbest illustrated in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 herein and includes longitudinallyextending, inner and outer pairs of girders 37 and 38, respectively,mounted on a number of transverse girders 39. The transverse girders aresupported on a driving axle 40 and an idler axle 41, which axles extendin parallel relation with the aforementioned inner and outer girders.Driving axle supports a number of rollers 43 and in like manner idler.axle 41 supports a number of rollers 44. Rollers 43, 44 are alignedtransversely of the transfer table in pairs and are supported on rails45 thereby mounting the transfer table for transverserolling movement.It will be understood that rollers 43 are connected with driving axle 40for being driven by the latter.

Axle 40 is driven from a gear box 47 having an input shaft 48 connectedthereto. Shaft 48 is driven from an electric motor 49 carried by thetransfer table. It will be understood that motor 49 and the associatedgear box 48 serve to drive rollers 43 in either direction thereby todrive the transfer table in either direction along the rails 45.

As noted in FIG. 6, each pair of girders 37, 38 supports suitable deckplate 51. One girder 38 supports deck plate extensions 52 mountingoperating cabs 53 at each corner of the transfer table adjacent idleraxle 41. Inner girders 37 also mount respective rails 55 which definethe railway track section on the transfer table.

The transfer table 36 includes a pair of wide flange sections 57 whichare supported on transverse girders 39 and which extend longitudinallyof the transfer table for the entire length of the latter between theinner girders 37. Wide flange sections 57 define a guideway mounting therobot 10 for rolling movement in either direction longitudinally of thetransfer table. As noted in FIG. 5, the rollers 15 of the robot rest onthe upper surfaces of the lower inside flanges of the sections 57 forrolling movement therealong.

The transfer table also mounts a pair of sprocket wheels 59, '60adjacent one end thereof, the sprocket wheel 59 being mounted at aslightly lower elevation than the sprocket wheel 60. In like manner, apair of sprocket wheels 61 ad 62 are mounted at the other end of thetransfer table. Sprocket wheel is driven from a shaft 64, which shaftmounts a sprocket gear 65. This gear meshes with another gear 66 whichis driven by the output shaft 67 of a gear box 68. The gear box includesan input shaft 69 which is driven from an electric motor 70 carried bythe transfer table. It will be understood that the motor 70 and theassociated gearing serves to drive sprocket wheel 60 in either directionof rotation.

The sprocket wheels 59-62 drive a chain, a portion of which chain isdiagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 1 and represented by the numeral72. The ends of the chain 72 are connected to opposite ends of anelongated shock absorbing device 74, which device is connected to centersection 11 of the robot by a bracket arrangement 75. The shock absorbingdevice 74 acts to connect the chain 72 to the robot 10 by resilientmeans, such as springs (not show).

It will be apparent that motor 70 serves to move the robot in eitherdirection along-the transfer table guideway defined by the wide flangesections 57. Preferably, suitable control means (not shown) located ineither or both cabs 53 are provided for operating the motor 70, themotor 49 and motors 34 carried by the robot 10. Since such control meansof itself forms no part of the present invention and can be readilyconstructed by a person having ordinary skill in the art usingcommercially available components, such control means will not bedescribed herein.

An installation for the transfer table 36 and one embodiment of thepresent invention is illustrated in FIGS. 9-11. The rails 45 aresupported on footings 77 (FIG. 11) in the base of a rectangular pit 78.The pit includes includes reinforced concrete walls, one end wall beingillustrated in FIG. 11. This end wall mounts a structural channel 79supporting spaced angles 80 which carry a plurality of electricalconductors 81. The transfer table includes suitable electrical collectorshoes 82 (FIG. 7) in slidable electrical engagement with the conductors81 for conducting electrical current to the various electrical 4 motorsand other electrical components (not shown) carried by the transfertable. l i

A number of railway track sections 84 extend to side walls of the pit78. Each track section 84 includes rails 85 (FIG. 10) adapted forrespective collinear alignment with the rails 55 on the transfer. table.A guideway is.associated with each track section 84 at the end of thelatter which is adjacent the side wall of, the pit 78. Each of theseextensions is arrangedto act as an extension of the robot guideway onthe transfer table when the rails of the latter are alignedwith therails of one of the stationary track sections 84. I

As noted in FIG. 10, each of these fixed guideways includes a pair ofwide flange sections 88 suitably mounted in a reinforced concretefooting 89, which footing also mounts ends of the rails 85. .The footing89 may include suitable anchoring and reinforcing members 90 and 91,respectively, for mounting the wide flange sections 88; these sectionsare preferably of the same size as. the sections 57. It will beunderstood that when the rails 55 on the transfer table are aligned withrespective rails 85 of the stationary track section 84, wide flangesections 57 on the transfer table are also in respective alignment withflange sections 88, in which case the latter serve as an extension ofthe robot guideway and thereby permit an end portion of the robot 10 toroll from the transfer table and onto the upper surfaces of the inner,lower flanges of the sections 88.

When the robot 10 is advanced to its limit of travel in one direction inwhich case the leading end thereof is advanced into the guidewayextension formed by the wide flange sections 88, the coupling mechanismon this'end of the robot is positioned so the hook member 18a thereofcan be coupled with the adjacent end of a railway car on the associatedtrack section 84. In this way, the robot 10 can be employed to pull sucha railway car onto the transfer table. It will be understood thatsuitable inter-- lock means (not shown) are associated with the transfertable control means to prevent movement of the latter when the robot isadvanced to a position wherein a portion thereof is located within oneof the fixed guideways defined by the Wide flange sections 88. It shouldalso be apparent that the robot 10 is effective to push one or morerailway cars completely off the transfer table and onto one of theadjacent track sections 84. Since the robot' includes dual couplingmembers, the robot can move cars onto or off the transfer table fromeither end thereof. The number of cars that can be handled on thetransfer table will of course depend on the length of the latter as wellas the length of the cars handled.

Depending on the number of cars handled and also depending on therelative lengths of the table and the cars thereon, the coupling member18 of the robot can be used to hold one or more rail cars on thetransfer table during movement of the latter. This is possible since themember 18a is adapted for coupling engagement with a railway carcoupler. However, it may be desirable to collapse the coupling member 18and hold the rail cars on the transfer table during movement thereof byother means, such as hydraulically operated wheel stops 93 (FIGS. 7 and8).

It should be apparent that upon erecting of each of the collapsiblecoupling mechanisms carried by the robot, the associated coupling member18 may be readily coupled with a railway car coupler. Collapsing ofthese coupling mechanisms permits the robot to be passed freely beneathone or more railway cars on the transfer table.

The robot 10 of the present invention is not to be limited for use on atransfer table. The robot may be movably mounted in a fixed guidewaymounted along a track section in symmetrical relation with thecenterline thereof. In such an installation, the coupler may includeonly one coupling mechanism. In other words, in all installations it isnot necessary for the robot to transfer adraft force in each directionof movement thereof.

It will be understood that the robot of this invention can be used toadvance a considerable number of cars in a cut of cars, since the robotis adapted to be engaged with the coupler of one of the railway cars,and since the coupling member 18 and the robot itself are more or lesscentrally arranged with the track centerline thereby preventing thedevelopment of undue stresses in the robot framework. The limitingfactor in determining the maximum draft force that may be transferredfrom the robot of this invention to a railway car will most likely bedetermined by the robot power means or the strength of the robot itself,since the coupling means carried by the robot transfers a draft force toa railway car through the coupler thereof. In prior art robot deviceswhich include railway car axle engaging members, the maximum amount ofdraft force that may be transferred to a railway car by the robot isquite often determined by the maximum permissible bending stress in therailway car axle.

While the invention has been shown in but only one form, it will beunderstood, as mentioned above, that the invention is not to be solimited. On the contrary, the invention is susceptible of various formsand modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for advancing one or more railway cars along a section ofrail track, said apparatus comprising, guideway means mounted along saidsection of rail track in symmetrical relation with the centerline of thelatter, a robot mounted on said guideway means centrally thereof formovement in either direction therealong, power means connected with saidrobot for moving the same, coupling means mounted on the robot andincluding a coupler member which is raised and lowered between erectedand collapsed positions, said coupler member being shaped for couplingengagement with and uncoupling from the coupler of a railway car on saidtrack section upon raising or lowering of said coupling member relativeto said car coupler, collapsing of said coupling member serving topermit the coupling means to pass beneath railway cars on said sectionof track upon movement of the robot therepast, and power means on therobot engaged with said coupling means for raising and lowering saidcoupler member.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said coupling member isdefined by a rigid hook contained in a generally horizontal plane whensuch hook is in its erected position.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 further defined by, said robotbeing elongated along the direction of movement thereof, said couplingmeans being mounted on said robot adjacent one end thereof, othercollapsible coupling means mounted on said robot adjacent the other endthereof, said other coupling means being a duplicate of the firstmentioned coupling means and being arranged oppositely of the latter.

4. In combination with a railway car transfer table, an apparatus formoving one or more railway cars back and forth between the transfertable and an adjacent, aligned section of railway track, said apparatuscomprising, means on the transfer table defining a first guidewaybetween the rails thereon, said first guideway being equidistant fromsaid rails and extending longitudinally thereof to at least one end ofthe transfer table, means defining a second guideway mounted between therails of said section of railway track, said second guideway serving asan extension of said first guideway when the rails on the transfer tableare positioned in respective collinear relation with the rails of saidsection of rail track, a robot mounted on said transfer table formovement in either direction along said first guideway, power means onthe transfer table for moving said robot along said first guideway andfor moving at least an end portion of the robot into and out of saidsecond guideway when the latter serves as an extension of the firstguideway, collapsible coupling means carried by said robot on said endportion thereof, other power means on the robot for erecting andcollapsing said coupling means, said coupling means including a couplermember shaped for coupling engagement with the coupler of a railway caron said rails when the coup ing means are directed, said member beingarranged to apply a draft force to a railway car on said track sectionupon movement of the robot away from said second guideway thereby topull such car onto the transfer table, collapsing of said coupling meansserving to permit said member to pass beneath railway cars on said railsupon movement of the robot therepast.

5. In combination with a railway car transfer table, an apparatus formoving one or more railway cars back and forth between the transfertable and stationary track sections arranged to join with the ends ofthe track on the transfer table, said apparatus comprising, means on thetransfer table defining a guideway between the rails thereon, saidguideway being equidistant from said rails and extending the full lengthof the transfer table, means defining a guideway extension mountedbetween the rails of each of said track sections, each of said guidewayextensions of said first guideway when the rails of the transfer tableare positioned in respective collinear relation with the rails of theassociated track section, an elongated robot mounted on said transfertable for movement in either direction along said first guideway, powermeans on the transfer table for moving said robot along said guidewayand for moving at least the leading end portion of the robot and out ofeach of said guideway extensions when the latter serve as an extensionof said guideway, collapsible coupling means carried by said robotadjacent each end portion thereof, other power means on the robot forindependently erecting and collapsing each of said coupling means, eachcoupling means including a coupler member shaped for coupling engagementwith'the coupler of a railway car on said rails when the associatedcoupling means are erected, each of said members being arranged to applya 'draft force to a railway car on a track section joining with one endof the track on the transfer table upon movement of the robot away fromthe associated guideway extension thereby to pull such car onto thetransfer table, collapsing of each coupling means serving to permit theassociated member to pass beneath railway cars on said rails uponmovement of the robot therepast.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,117,636 11/1914 Cederlundl04l76 1,573,388 2/ 1926 Friesen l04l76 3,262,398 7/ 1966 Cheek l04162ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

D. F. WORTH, Assistant Examiner.

DATFNT OFFICF UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTIONPatent No. 3 ,408,953 November 5, 1968 Wallace J. Saxonmeyer It iscertified that error appears in the above identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 3, line 68, cancel "includes". Column 6, line 33, after"tensions" insert serving as an extension Signed and sealed this 17thday of March 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr. WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

kttesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

